Coordinated multi-wavelength observations of Sgr A*

Open Access
Authors
  • A. Eckart
  • R. Schödel
  • F.K. Baganoff
  • M. Morris
  • T. Bertram
  • M. Dovciak
  • D. Downes
  • W.J. Duschl
  • V. Karas
  • S. König
  • T. Krichbaum
  • M. Krips
  • D. Kunneriath
  • R.S. Lu
  • S. Markoff
  • J. Mauerhan
  • L. Meyer
  • J. Moultaka
  • K. Muzic
  • F. Najarro
  • K. Schuster
  • L. Sjouwerman
  • C. Straubmeier
  • C. Thum
  • S. Vogel
  • H. Wiesemeyer
  • G. Witzel
  • M. Zamaninasab
  • A. Zensus
Publication date 2008
Journal Journal of Physics. Conference Series
Event The Universe under the Microscope: Astrophysics at High Angular Resolution (AHAR 2008), Bad Honnef, Germany
Volume | Issue number 131
Pages (from-to) 012002
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy (API)
Abstract
We report on recent near-infrared (NIR) and X-ray observations of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the electromagnetic manifestation of the ~4x10^6 M-circle-dot solar masses super-massive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic Center. The goal of these coordinated multi-wavelength observations is to investigate the variable emission from Sgr A* in order to obtain a better understanding of the underlying physical processes in the accretion flow/outflow. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (July 2005, May 2007) and the ACIS-I instrument aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory (July 2005). We report on a polarized NIR flare synchronous to a 8x1033 erg/s X-ray flare in July 2005, and a further flare in May 2007 that shows the highest sub-flare to flare contrast observed until now. The observations can be interpreted in the framework of a model involving a temporary disk with a short jet. In the disk component flux density variations can be explained due to hot spots on relativistic orbits around the central SMBH. The variations of the sub-structures of the May 2007 flare are interpreted as a variation of the hot spot structure due to differential rotation within the disk.
Document type Article
Note Proceedings title: The Universe under the Microscope: Astrophysics at High Angular Resolution: 21-25 April 2008, Bad Honnef, Germany Publisher: IOP Publishing Place of publication: Bristol Editors: R. Schödel, A. Eckart, S. Pfalzner, E. Ros
Published at https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/131/1/012002
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301829.pdf (Final published version)
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